It’s really no surprise that legendary extreme skier and part time flamingo herder Scot Schmidt was elected to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The real surprise is that it took until this week to do so. The godfather of American freeskiing joins buddies Glen Plake and the late Doug Coombs in the hall with a résumé that includes becoming freeskiing’s first sponsored athlete, starring in close to 40 ski flicks, and rocking the s#%t out of a one piece. Other inductees included freestyle pioneer John Clendinin, ski film producer Joe Jay Jalbert, and Tahoe Olympic bump artist Toby Dawson.

Yoke Collection Is On The Burrito Diet

Forrest Gump once said, “The Yoke Collection is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” Except you do know what you’re going to get, because it’s chocolate—and everybody loves chocolate. Case in point, the Yoke boys’ newest edit, “The Burrito Diet.” Sami Ortlieb sets the delectable tone in this creative ski wonderpiece by connecting (count ’em) seven hits into his pump track run through a town park. The rest is equally boggling as the crew skis over, under, and through pretty much anything they damn well please.

Goggle Tans Are All The Rage

Nice spray tan, guy.

From grime to glam, goggle tans are en vogue in the beauty world according to one British newspaper that shall not remain nameless. The Daily Mail reported that the tan line we all associate with dirtbag ski bums is actually catching on in fashion circles, giving T.J. Burke hope for a future career in fashion. According to the paper, social climbers are getting spray-tans wearing goggles to fool people into thinking they’re returning from ski holiday. If I’d only known the dirt beard look would have propelled me into the club of ridiculously, ridiculously good-looking, I would have rocked my Carrera 98s all summer. Joke’s on me I guess.

In a week marred by tragedy, the newest video from the High 5’s Foundation offers up a little hope for the ski community. After Giray Dadali suffered a broken pelvis and sacrum at last March’s Big Bear War of Rails, he was strapped with medical bills and unsure if he’d ever hit the slopes again. But after a little intervention from the boys and girls at Tahoe-based High Fives Foundation, Dadali was able to get on his feet, recover, and click back into his skis in only a few months. Check out his story here, and don’t forget that there are some pretty cool people out there offering a helping hand.

What better way to introduce some new terrain than with a little visual narrative, right? Hidden within a hunt for the perfect waffle (everyone knows that honor goes to Corbett’s Cabin, but alas), Whistler Blackcomb unveiled its new Crystal Ridge Express and some of the terrain it accesses in Wonder Reels Episode 2. From the looks of the video, there should be plenty of new gladed terrain to tangle with in Fraggle Rock and the Burn and enough corduroy on Crystal Ridge to make an Osh-Kosh B’Gosh outlet jealous. Now if only we could get lift ticket prices under $100…

Early season Alta popped off this week, Solitude kicks off Utah resort skiing this weekend, and Instagram is clogged with Colorado core shots, but the Armada crew reminded us what real winter looks like with its latest from Retallack Lodge in British Columbia. Mike Hornbeck, Tanner Hall, and gang do some serious pillow shopping in the Canadian backcountry. Highlights include Hornbeck’s smooth 180 hand drag to powder pillow revert at 3:05 and the continued realization that THall is actually pretty good at this backcountry thing.

If you have some lingering blood feuds, but still have to get in those powder turns, Michael Mason just might be your guy. Based out of Verbier, Switzerland, the Englishman is a licensed ski instructor, a 5th degree black belt, and perhaps the first ever ski bodyguard. That’s right, Mason offers his protection and security services to VIP skiers and celebrities through the Swiss Ski School of Verbier and protects clients throughout the Alps. According to his website’s testimonials page, people like the dude. We couldn’t track down any footage of the ski bodyguard in action, but we assume it looks something like this.